Pokemon Heroics
by veneerofcute
Summary: After Shinji and Eureka agree to travel together, they set out aiming to catch pokemon and battle their way as far as they can go. With not only friends and family supporting them but also Champion Shirona who wants to see a very strong trainer so badly, they feel sure that they can become the best, whatever that is.
1. Chapter 1: Call To Adventure

_Author's notes: A lot of the ideas for this fic came before XYZ begun and hence it will operate on a small level of AU from the XY series. These are mainly things for around XYZ and there will be nothing big. It's mainly been just me making the wrong guesses on what would happen and things like that. The biggest was that the hope that Shinji would appear after Satoshi got all his badges just as one of the show creators said he was hoping would happen._

 **Pokemon Heroics**

Act 1: The Adventures of Shinji and Eureka

Chapter One: Call To Adventure

Snow lay on the ground in clumps. It had snowed the night before but the sun had melted a lot of the snow. Eureka, though dressed for spring, felt hot and sweaty. She knew where she was going: wherever Shinji was taking her. She wished that she was there already. Her one hand was warm as she clung to Shinji on her left and tightly wrapped around the strap holding Dedenne in his pouch on her right.

Shinji suddenly stopped. He turned to Eureka and plainly said, "Eureka kun, I want you to be on your best behaviour from now on. We're meeting Shirona san here and she'll be wanting to see what you're like. I want you to show your bravest face and your intelligence."

Eureka swallowed her fear. She opened her mouth but couldn't get out her words. Shinji was walking on again. Eureka quickened her step to match his pace. She tried to keep her face serious as Shinji took her out of the woods. There was now no snow to be seen anywhere, but Eureka did not notice. She did not notice the fence she was walking past either. It seemed sudden when she stopped outside a house. Shinji opened the door and took her inside. "Sit on the couch. I'll see where Aniki and Shirona san are." Eureka sat as she was told to and took a look round her surroundings. The room was not cosy or gritty. There were a few plants around but they didn't seem to hold any real note. There was a fire place with a few dying embers in it but still looked very clean. Eureka wondered if this was some sort of office. The TV suggested otherwise though.

Shinji came back with a pile of firewood in his hands. He placed a log in the fire, gathered up the embers, so that the fire would start up close to the log, then sat next to Eureka. "Aniki and Shirona san will come in in a minute. Aniki is just showing her his baby pokemon." Shinji didn't show his feelings but he was quietly annoyed that Shirona was acting like baby pokemon were something exciting. He refused to even consider the idea that the champion of Sinnoh either hadn't seen baby pokemon before or would be learning anything new from looking at Reiji's.

Though, it was clear that Shinji was in a bad mood, Eureka's eyes lit up. "Can I see the baby pokemon too?" She then wondered if she had said something wrong as Shinji failed to hide his annoyed face.

Ignoring Eureka's request Shinji signalled for her to sit down then sat next to her and waited for his brother and Shirona to come in.

Shirona came in first and smiled at what she saw in Eureka's enthusiastic face. "Hello again, Shinji kun. It's nice to see you looking well. I'm guessing that this is your friend."

Shinji nodded.

Eureka said, "Hello Shirona san. I'm a very brave and intelligent person that won't disappoint Shinji kun." She watched Shinji's face crumpled and so her own did too.

Shirona laughed, "Don't worry about impressing me. I know all about Shinji kun's high standards." To everyone's relief Eureka relaxed upon hearing this.

Reiji walked in and sat down opposite Shinji whilst signalling Shirona to sit too. "Shinji, why don't you introduce everyone. That might impress Shirona san more." He smirked knowing that he was embarrassing Shinji.

With a sigh, Shinji agreed and begun, "Shirona san, Aniki, this is Eureka kun. I know she's a little young but I can assure you be has a lot of potential. Eureka kun, this is Shirona san, the champion of Sinnoh. Also everyone, this is Reiji, my annoying weakling brother."

The smirk left Reiji's face but a more normal smile replaced it. "Thankyou Shinji. Eureka kun, how are you?"

"Sleepy." Eureka then remembered her manners as well as Shinji's request. "And you Reiji san?"

"I'm fine thank you. Are you excited for the idea of traveling with Shinji kun?"

"Yes, really excited. He and I are going to go all over Sinnoh and explore everything and Dedenne and I are going to have lots of fun."

Shirona asked, "Dedenne?"

"Dedenne is Onii- no, Shinji's pokemon. They traded, so that I can still look after Dedenne. I've been looking after Dedenne for ages and Dedenne will be my pokemon someday. Dedenne is my special friend."

Shirona assured, "And it looks like you've been taking good care of Dedenne."

"Thank you, Shirona san."

Shirona then turned to Shinji and said, "Dedenne is what got you interested in Eureka chan, right?" After seeing Shinji's nod, she said, "She isn't ten though. Indeed, I was expecting you to bring someone older and more experienced."

"I am experienced, Shirona... san. I've traveled with Satoshi and battled Shinji. I lost but Shinji thought I did really well and Oniichan said that he supported me traveling with Shinji and so Oniichan called Papa and Papa said that he thought it was a great opportunity for me. Satoshi said it was a great idea too."

Everyone looked at Eureka who was happily smiling now, feeling very confident in herself. Finally, Shinji decided to explain in his own words, "I found Eureka Noir here, traveling with Satoshi. She and her brother, Citron were helping him to train and I could see that she had skills. I spoke with the whole group. There was one other person I think. Then I had to talk to her father and his boyfriend and that was a pain. They did agree to let her travel with me since I impressed them. Her father said that he believes that there is a loophole in the law or something like that will help solve the age problem. He said that you would know what he's talking about."

Shirona smiled. She had a feeling that this would be the case, pretty early on in Shinji's explanation. "It'll take a short while, but yes, I believe I can sort out something."

"A short while?" Shinji frowned, impatient. It had taken long enough for Shinji to find a trainer that was any where near suited for the idea of traveling with him and after everything Shinji had been through in dealing with his old rival, Shinji wanted not to wait a second longer. He looked at Eureka who had leaned on him resting her eyes and then at Reiji. His brother looked so proud of him that Shinji felt calmer.

"About a week. I'll have to leave Tobari City for a couple of days too. Don't worry, there's a lot of stuff you can do in the meantime. Maybe you could start by getting Eureka chan better dressed for the journey."

Reiji added, "We could sort though your team and plan too."

Eureka sleepily said, "I wanna play with all the pokemon here."

Shinji put a hand around Eureka and smiled. "Fine then, I can wait." He didn't mind as Eurkea cuddled into him or as she went to sleep. He tried to keep up with Shirona and Reiji's conversation that drifted into the sort of conversation that Shinji had never really understood. There was nothing to be discovered so soon he found himself drifting off with Eureka.

Shirona smiled at the two and wondered if they were more childlike than either would ever admit, but said nothing, leaving her judgment to just her face. She looked at Reiji who was also looking at both of them but only showing a look of relief. With Reiji leaving the room briefly, she decided that it was time for her to leave. She smiled before she left, noticing that Eureka had been left on the sofa to sleep. Shinji was still her pillow and there was now a blanket covering them both. "At least he's finally found another friend."

Shinji woke up a short while later and was disappointed that Shirona had left without saying goodbye. He looked for Reiji but it seemed that he had gone up to bed. Sighing he almost got up, before realising that that would be cruel. With that he decided it would be easier to back to sleep.

The next morning Reiji woke up and went to find the two friends. He smiled at the sight on his couch. The night before he had tried to wake them, but Shinji and Eureka were well and truly asleep. He didn't mind. Finding the blankets hadn't taken too much time and it would do Shinji well to bond. He left the two to sleep whilst he went to make breakfast. He soon heard Shinji grumpily wake up and Reiji poked his head from out of the kitchen, "Hi, Shin chan, wonderful morning."

"What suggested to you that it's okay to call me that right now?"

"How Shin chan like you look, of course."

"Shin chan like?" Shinji half wondered if he wanted to know his brother's reasoning. He was just glad that Eureka felt like she was still asleep.

"All cute and your hair all fluffy."

"I'm not going to pretend that that makes sense." Shinji then looked beside him. "Eureka is still asleep." He looked at Reiji. "You tried getting her up?"

"No, not since last night."

Shinji pushed Eureka off him and let her fall on the floor, this time sure the effort was worth it. She woke up with a whelp. "Shinji, that's mean."

"Talk to Aniki. He knows mean way better than I do."

Reiji looked confused. "I haven't done anything." He resisted the urge to call him Shin chan at that point. He came in with a couple of glasses of orange juice instead. "Still that was mean ,Shinji. Be nice to Eureka kun. She is the one doing you the favour, remember."

Eureka nodded and said, "Yes, be nice to me, Shinji."

Shinji sighed. He wished Reiji hadn't met Shirona here of all places. Having Eureka and Reiji together was sure to be a pain. Reiji alone wasn't bad and often could be fun to be around with and Eureka too was very irritating. Shinji could already see that together though, they would gang up on him.

Eureka then got up and started to stretch. "Where's the bathroom. I need to freshen up."

Shinji directed her and once they were both ready for the day, they found a fine breakfast waiting for them. Eureka looked very happy to be getting such nice food and quickly tucked in. Shinji used to his brother's cooking settled down with a book and absent mindedly helped himself as he read.

Reiji didn't say anything, eating quickly then getting ready for his days work. He then let Eureka and Shinji be.

Eureka asked, "What are you reading?"

"The Truth About Bug Types by Ayume Hito." Shinji showed her the book. "You might as well read it. It's not a great book, but we might as well do something whilst we're here."

"Okay, but I can cuddle Reiji san's cuties and we can go shopping too right." Upon Shinji's nod, Eureka started to look at the book too. Soon they were calmly sharing the book together eating between page turns. Eureka couldn't really understand some of the words, but she found a lot of the pictures adorable. Shinji never turned a page until Eureka gave her okay and smiled glad to be such a good influence.

They spent most of the morning absorbing information about bug types including their strengths and weaknesses, where they could be found, their cuteness and common behaviours. The book entrancing them until Eureka started to twitch and Shinji let her go. She ran off and started to play with her Dedenne. Shinji continued with the book by himself and ignored his apprentice.

Eureka let Dedenne settle on her head and let his tale hit her fingers whilst she made different pitched sounds, occasionally forgetting which finger was which note. Her noises were at first quiet but soon she forgot about Shinji's reading and Dedenne started to hit her fingers harder. Shinji pulled his book closer and tried to ignore Eureka's noises. He was about to close the book and throw it towards her when Reiji entered. He looked up at Reiji willing him to quieten Eureka down for him.

Reiji felt a strange feeling upon looking at the scene. Even though he was unaware of Shinji's thoughts, the way that Shinji was looking at him was enough to confirm old feelings. He had had confidence in Shinji's ability to make friends right from when Shinji had lost against Satoshi in the league. However the idea of Shinji traveling with someone still seemed like a huge jump to him in terms of social interaction. The feeling that Reiji was feeling, a feeling that is hard to describe, was something that was something that was on coming for a while.

Around a year ago, Shinji had lost at the Sinnoh league to Satoshi. Shinji had then returned home unusually happy for a loss and had discussed with Reiji his plans to defeat Jindai. Reiji had hoped that defeating Jindai would have more of an impact on Shinji but in a way it felt more like a footnote than anything else. Shinji had even said that much himself. It took Shinji around three months to then complete the Kanto Battle Frontier and all the time, it felt like little was happening. Somehow Satoshi had felt like more of a challenge even though Satoshi had only beaten Shinji once. Then as Shinji was planning to visit home and making his way through Sinnoh, he met again with Shirona and they started talking. Shirona had just been in Isshu and it disappointed Shinji to find out that his rival did not sound like as much of a challenge as he had once been. Shirona said that she was impressed with Shinji's drive and that Shinji actually considered his problem a problem at all. With that Shinji gained a second friend. They often would battle, fight strange people together, and even once discuss strategies. It was around three months ago that she had set up a particular task for him and spoken of how she was likely to loose one of her Heavenly Kings and need a replacement. Shinji would though need to prove himself as more than her friend for it to work.

Shinji must have taken this task of finding an apprentice seriously and yet Reiji couldn't help but wonder what had lead him to Eureka. Shinji had made a concious choice not to go to Isshu or seek out Satoshi even though they had kept in touch. Shinji did not want to be holding on to his past anymore and Satoshi was ultimately the past.

Around a week ago, Shinji had rung up to say that he had come across Satoshi and the next day to say he had found an apprentice. It had felt like no time at all had passed when Shirona was approaching his Day Care requesting to stay until Shinji came home and Reiji hadn't had time to think until now. Now he was considering this, he wanted to brush the feeling away whatever it was. Surely the fact that his brother had given him a lot to be proud of was more important. Deciding to ignore the feeling for now, Reiji said, "I was wondering what you two were planning on doing in terms of lunch."

Eureka looked up, letting Dedenne slide a little. "Lunch?"

Shinji nodded and said, "It is getting around that time." He put his book on one side, now distracted by thoughts of food. "It would be better if Eureka could cook, I guess." He looked at his brother for confirmation and Reiji nodded thinking it wasn't a bad idea at all.

Eureka though wasn't so sure, but she didn't want to annoy Shinji so soon. She had promised her brother that she would behave for Shinji. Satoshi had stated the importance too in a way. At least that's what she guessed he was trying to impose on her anyway. He had kept on saying that Shinji was super strict but had a good side too and things like that. Serena was the only one who had said very little on the matter. On the other hand, she hated cooking. It was boring. Something that someone like Citron would like but not her.

Unsure she followed Shinji to the kitchen. There were already three pans on the stove, letting off a nice aroma. Eureka sniffed hopefully and was disappointed when Shinji dismissed the smells, "that's pokemon food Eureka kun."

Shinji went to the fridge and pulled out some vegetables and said, "Eureka kun can cut the veg and I'll work on the pans."

Eureka decided that this wasn't so bad. She knew that she could make up her mind to accidentally forget the carrots. She watched as Shinji got out the rice and some oil and spices. She realised that Shinji trusted and expected her to get on with her set task. She smiled, working on the beans and casually ignoring the foods that she detested. She wondered what else she could get away with removing as she went to the fridge to get more peas. There was something nice about being trusted to get things right rather than to be helped all the time. It made her feel grown up.

Of course Shinji did notice the replacements when he put the ingredients in as well as Eureka's ill practiced chopping skills but decided against saying anything. He merely said, "You can help Aniki when he cooks tonight too."

It had been Reiji's idea that everyone should meet at his house and at the time, Shinji had seen that as a great waste of time, but now he wondered if Reiji had had a point. He knew that Reiji would handle her when it came to this better than he would. He for the first time, felt glad of the hold up created by Shirona having to sort out the age problem. He liked the idea of taking Eureka on and she did have an enthusiasm for pokemon that reminded him of his own around the same age. He was sure of her potential out of more than just nostalgia though. Plus, if Reiji could help with maturity in areas that weren't pokemon related that would make things a lot easier all around. She already insisted on a Wednesday phone call to her family. Both these things should make it easier for him to deal with going from travelling alone to travelling with someone that was clearly used to being around people.

When he came across Satoshi, he realised that it was worth battling him for Satoshi's sake and hopefully would make it worth it in the future for his own too. Shinji was pleasantly surprised by how much of a challenge Satoshi was so he didn't leave after the battle. It was then that he started to notice Eureka. She was saddened by the loss Satoshi had had and was helping Satoshi to build up their spirits. Shinji had done likewise back when he had seen battling value in his brother. He wouldn't as Eureka would do the same for Serena's pokemon which were clearly pretty week, but there was a similarity nonetheless. It was enough to get him to talk to her. It soon became clear that she knew a lot about pokemon for someone her age and Shinji challenged her to a friendly battle.

Shinji huffed at the memory. Satoshi had said that he wasn't aware that Shinji was capable of friendly, never mind a friendly battle. Shinji hadn't replied to such a ridiculous comment. It still interrupted Shinji's mind however much he pushed it out. He was sure that Eureka would consider the battle friendly enough, even though she naturally lost.

Her Dedenne was well looked after but it was clear that they didn't train. If nothing else, Shinji felt that he should be able to sort that out.

He also decided that it would be good if she were to capture more pokemon or at the very least be in procession of them or in other words capture in everything but name. Looking after something very different from Dedenne would be good. Eureka had had a very nice reaction to Dodaitose. Shinji wondered if it was his personal bias that he wanted Eureka to have a pokemon like that. It wouldn't do if she took too much after his style after all. It would be best if Eureka choose her own pokemon.

As Shinji pondered all this, he continued making his spiced vegetables and rice. The rice cooker took care of the rice so he wasn't too worried about that. He liked cooking though he preferred when his brother did it. He often felt though that it was easier for everyone involved to just eat out or open packets. Still, when his brother was around that reason did not stand with Shinji in the slightest.

Reiji entered to move his pokemon food from the pans into several large jars. Shinji then realised that this was probably something that he made lots of at once so that smaller measures could be added to dishes later. Eureka too took an interest in what Reiji was doing too. "Too much of this one at once isn't healthy but a treat can keep a pokemon better behaved. Plus it's useful for making friends." Eureka having now handed over her vegetables to Shinji, decided to help Reiji, eager to hear what he had to say. Reiji then indicated to a bubbling mixture on the cooker and said, "This one is really useful too. It keeps pokemon healthy. I give it to them if they start showing signs of sickness before they get fully sick to help prevent it. I'm not very good at making it though. You'd have to ask a different sort of breeder for that."

Eureka asked, "Different sort of breeder?"

"Sure, some breeders are better at some things than others. That's why typically at a place like this, they'll be two or three breeders. Unfortunately Hana kun is off sick at the moment so I'm having to fulfil her role too. Hana kun is a better cook than I am whilst I'm better at battling so we even each other out."

Eureka grinned. "Can I help out too?"

Reiji said, "If that's fine with Shinji. He might have other plans for his apprentice."

Shinji thought for a few seconds about this idea. His plans for the next few days involved reading and studying but he knew that that was nothing in comparison to field experience. Plus it would be a way of letting her play with his brother's 'cuties' that didn't get on anyone's nerves. "I think that should be for the best."

Eureka cheered happy. "I think that I should fit in fine. I can't cook though so I can't take Hana's place." She smiled and said, "Oniichan says that I'm good at grooming though."

Reiji agreed, "Yes, I noticed how nicely groomed Dedenne is and I'm guessing you've been helping Shinji's pokemon too."

"You noticed!"

Quietly Reiji thought to himself that it would be impossible not to. Shinji's on hand pokemon often went far too long without being groomed for Reiji's tastes. Sure, Eureka looked skilled but pretty much anything was an improvement for Shinji's pokemon. Shortly he said, "Of course I did. You did a great job too."

"I like Dodaitose. She's a cutie. Ringuma threw me off though until Shinji told him off."

"Her." Reiji corrected without thinking. Upon Eureka's surprise Reiji explained, "Ringuma is female."

"Oh. Well, Shinji told her off and they had a bit of a debate over me. I don't think Ringuma likes me very much."

"She's just being protective of Shinji. I reckon she must have lost some cubs at some point and has taken Shinji on as a way of coping. Once she sees that you mean no harm she'll calm down and let you groom her. I had to go through the same thing though it'll be easier for me. I have a similar scent to Shinji you see."

Eureka looked down feeling bad. She had no idea that anything like that could happen. "Lost her cubs."

"Yes, lost her cubs. I mean, I can't be sure. Shinji caught her in the wild after she started chasing after Satoshi. I've never been able to find out more information than that. I'm just assuming from her reaction towards Shinji as well as a time that she was here and some himeguma were here."

"Himeguma?"

"The unevolved form of Ringuma. They look like little teddies."

Shinji pulled his zukan from his pocket and showed Eureka a picture of Himeguma. "Cute. I don't blame Ringuma for wanting some. I'd like some too."

To this Shinji blankly replied, "It's no use owning an unevolved pokemon if you can't deal with an evolution." Reiji quietly agreed. It wasn't as big a deal to Reiji as it was to Shinji but it was something which did bother him a little. However, he didn't want to hurt Eureka's feelings hence he kept quiet.

Eureka pulled her best pose of determination, though really she lacked Satoshi's confidence to really pull off the one that she was trying. "I'll start by learning about Shinji's Ringuma then!" With that she ran off.

Shinji was about to go after her when Reiji stopped him. "Shinji, I would like to talk to you about Eureka kun. Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

Shinji replied, "Of course it is, Aniki. I'm sure that she'll do great. Even if this isn't though, I don't see why it should bother you."

Reiji sighed. He feared that Shinji would give him a reply like that. Still, there was nothing he could do: Shinji had made up his mind. Still, Shinji and Reiji's stubbornness had always been evenly matched and now that Shinji had made it clear not to be involved, there was no way that he wasn't going to be.


	2. Chapter 2: Refusal Of The Call

Chapter 2: Refusal of the Call

The next day, Reiji woke Eureka early and told her that they were going to have some fun before Shinji woke up. Eureka swiftly got dressed and quietly made her way out of the room. She tiptoed over to the kitchen and found Reiji finishing making everyones' breakfast complete with juice. He motioned for her to eat quickly and ate swiftly himself. She shovelled the food down her throat and soon was ready. Just as they had finished, Shinji was up and standing in the doorway. "Let me guess, Aniki woke you up and wants to have fun before I wake up and you honestly thought that your racket wouldn't wake me up."

Reiji knew better than to deny this. "Yes." Eureka who had been trying to think of an excuse was alarmed by how swiftly Reiji 'gave in'. She looked up at him and was about to say something when Reiji said, "Maybe you could come with us now."

"Sure." Shinji walked away form the doorway. He was still in his sleepwear: an old oversized top of his brother's but he didn't really care. Eureka found it a little odd but she wasn't too sure it was a good idea to say anything. Shinji hadn't reacted too well to her questioning his actions in the past. He had done weirder things in the past too.

Reiji announced, "I think that a good place to start would be sorting out some winter clothes for the both of you. I know that you'd like to get battling right away but it would be better to prepare yourselves as people. You still have a lot to learn about people, Shinji."

"You seem to think that improving my people skills is the only reason I would be set a task like this."

Eureka interjected, "It's not a task. I'm an opportunity." Eureka's confidence rang in her voice as she said this and her entire body oozed with determination. "I am. I'm going to teach Shinji as much as he teaches me."

Shinji shrugged. He responded blankly, "If you are going to do everything you promised like that we'd be traveling together for ever. You want all the pokemon. You want to try all the jobs. You now want to teach me as much as I teach you."

"It could happen!" Eureka pounded her fists on Shinji's side and clearly had no intent to hurt him for she was also smiling sweetly. "It could happen quick too."

"Our training time is already being seriously cut down by Shirona san. I was hoping that she would be swifter in sorting out the age thing."

Reiji smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way and said, "There's still a lot that can be done until then. I could battle Eureka kun and she could help you train..." Reiji's voice trailed off as he realised that he wasn't helping.

After a brief quiet, Eureka said, "I'll battle Reiji."

Shinji's eyes widened. This was the determination that had impressed him into wanting to work with her in the first place. "Fine. This afternoon you'll battle Aniki, but with one of my pokemon. Just make this shopping go quick." After that Shinji started to eat and didn't notice how the atmosphere had changed due to his appearance.

Eureka looked to Dedenne and he made it clear that he was in agreement of with her. "I think it would be better if I used Dedenne. Dedenne really wants to battle."

"I have no complaints with that. Aniki shouldn't either." Shinji lamented to himself that it didn't really matter if she used one of his pokemon or not today. He would like it to happen before the week was out though. Then she could learn about battling with a pokemon that was too powerful for her before her Dedenne grew too strong. If Eureka was to only train one pokemon it was best that she was as prepared as possible to deal with that level of power. There was plenty of time for that though so if it wasn't today there was always the next few days. There was a definiate advantage to Eureka learning about this whilst Dedenne was resting too. Shinji decided that thinking things through like this must make him a pretty good teacher.

Once they were out of the house, they made their way into Tobari's city centre where most of the shops where including the large mall with it's bright colourful signs and polite sales people. Eureka walked on ahead but was glad that she wasn't doing so by as huge a distance as she was used to. Reiji took Shinji's hand and they walked calmly together. There was no point in rushing, even if Eureka enjoyed a good rush provided it was by choice. The distance wasn't that far but considering they walked most places, the distance felt shorter. Eureka slipped a few times on the snow but she forced herself to remain upright with her other foot. Plus Shinji was always there to help her with his hand in her. Right then, it made her feel more confident. After a while, she took Reiji's hand just to be certain of avoiding possible embarrassment. She only released the hand when it was revealed that in the built up part of city how the snow had been trod in and melted.

They entered a store and Eureka instantly went towards the cuter section only to be pulled back by Shinji. "Think more practical, Eureka." He directed her towards the winter wear including snow boots and thick coats and drab colours. Okay, that's a lie: there was one item that was in nice bright colours but that had a design that looked like the designer had no idea what a human was.

"How about practical and cute. I found this really snug warm coat that made me look like a Delibird before." Shinji was dubious. He had seen little kids in such things and was never sure how they could move. Eureka noticed his subtle turn of the eyebrow and said "It was really really really super duper warm."

"I'm sure it was," Shinji said sarcastically, his voice showing less disinterest than he felt.

Reiji though imagined Eureka in the outfit and let out the words, "I'm sure you looked adorable in it, Eureka kun."

Shinji's brows twitched and he irritability said, "Aniki, please don't get involved."

Eureka puffed her cheeks, annoyed that Shinji was in charge and wondering how she could change the situation. She had no idea how to change anything though.

Reiji noticing this, said, "We should set an good example for Eureka kun, Shinji. She can choose based on our good behaviour, that we must start to show, soon."

Though Eureka didn't notice the way Reiji had said anything, Shinji did and resigned himself to the fact that Reiji was going to win this one. He didn't like it when Reiji took that quiet change in tone and knew what it meant.

Eureka watched as Reiji picked out a warm coat that he raised up for them to look at. "It's got little Nazonokusa on it." The Nazonokusa looked a little confused on their blue backdrop and with their dark blue skin and green leaves didn't stand out that much, but nonetheless it was still rather cute.

Trying to sound enthusiastic but failing due to an obvious lack of interest, Shinji said, "I like that it's got pockets." Upon noticing that Eureka's eyes were beginning to glaze over he added, "That way Dedenne will be more comfortable in his bag."

Eureka muttered, "Doesn't Shinji need new clothes too." Then her eyes brighten up as a meaning to Reiji's statement occurred to her. She loudly added, "We should wear matching clothes."

Shinji wanted to go against Eureka, but something inside of him stopped him. Later he would say that it was practicality but in a way it was closer to the idea that Reiji would implant an even worse idea in her head. "I suppose that that isn't the worst idea I've ever heard."

Reiji grinned. That certainly was true. Shinji seemed to attract people who suggested terrible ideas all the time for some reason. Reiji wasn't interested in clothes that much, but he wanted Eureka to have more control over their relationship and Reiji saw this as a good start. He had no idea what was typically cute and what wasn't. For him the most important thing was how much it would matter if pokemon puke got on it. It was nice to see Shinji and Eureka bond over something. Shinji seemed willing to try on whatever Eureka picked out. He soon felt comfortable leaving them to make their choices. They didn't even notice that Reiji had slipped off.

Eureka looked briefly at the dresses, but wouldn't dare suggest them. She hoped that Shinji's only complaint would be the lack of practicality, but she had been let down before.

They soon had picked out a simple assemble. A blue hoodie that when up with pale blue buttons, some baggy grey pants with a lot of pockets and some warm winter boots complete with plenty of grip. There weren't any pink ones in Shinji's size so he wore some brown ones. A small part of Shinji felt disappointed for he had been planning that if Eureka went missing again he could say that she was wearing the same thing as him if he needed to ask for help. He wasn't about to force Eureka into the grey ones for a small difference that wasn't that important.

Shinji found a couple of thick coats in another shop that covered the hoodies completely and met to Eureka's standards of cuteness after not that long. They were both blue but unfortunately rather different again They fitted easily in their bags, which Shinji liked. Still it would have to do. Eureka's was a slightly lighter blue than Shinji's with a pale almost white, pink trim whereas Shinji's came with a pale blue trim.

They walked back in their new outfits. Eureka was glad to not have to hold onto anyone hand this time for more of the snow had melted and ran on ahead, glad that they both looked cute and were being practical. She soon saw Reiji talking to someone that she didn't know. She changed direction and ran as fast as she could towards Reiji.

Shinji kept his pace behind her but made no attempt to run. Her enthusiasm seemed endless and her charm today felt wonderfully infectious. It didn't seem to matter right now that Sumomo was talking to Reiji since Eureka was there too, talking to them completely unaware of how complex life could be. He was glad at least that the shopping trip had taken less time than he had feared.

Once he was close enough to hear the conversation, Shinji decided to remain quiet. Eureka was pretty easy to impress it seemed. So happy to see any pokemon never mind how week. In a way, she was a little like Satoshi.

Reiji was so willing to build her up too, pointing out how impressive it was that she had come this far. Pointing out how unusually good she was at grooming for someone her age and that Reiji himself was no where near the same level at the same age. Shinji decided not to point out that Reiji hadn't even thought of becoming a breeder at that stage. Indeed, Shinji didn't say anything during the conversation and just nodded when he agreed with a particular bit of praise given to Eureka.

The only thing that Shinji didn't like was how pointless Sumomo's praise was: none of this meant that Eureka was a worthy apprentice. Maybe Reiji was just saying this so that he wouldn't abandon Eureka some where, Shinji thought to himself. Reiji had certainly done that with Shinji's pokemon before now. Shinji would never tell his brother but he had at one stage considered making a point of noticing that sort of thing so that he could make choices of when to release pokemon.

He didn't notice how happy it made Eureka. The truth is that he didn't notice a lot of things. He didn't notice how uncomfortable Sumomo felt in his presence or how Sumomo could make Reiji laugh in a way that was a little different from how Reiji would laugh around Shinji usually. The death glares from Sumomo's pokemon might as well have been heart eyes for all the attention that Shinji gave them. Dedenne exploring Eureka's new clothes was something that only Eureka and Dedenne were aware of too, even though it was in plain sight.

After a while, Sumomo went off to the gym and the three walked back to Reiji's home together. Shinji asked Eureka, "What did you think of Sumomo?"

"She's nice. Why do you ask? Is she your ex or something?" Shinji's eyes widened but he didn't feel too shocked. Reiji on the other hand laughed like he'd never seen a kid before. With this reaction, Eureka figured out, "I guess not."

When he'd stopped laughing, Reiji said, "Nah, instead, Shinji is mortally terrified that she'll date me. I don't know why."

"Mortally..." Eureka wondered what it must be like to be that scared of the idea of someone dating but couldn't even begin to understand how it could be anything but the most happy thing when two people get together. Even, as Shinji called mortally an exaggeration, the idea just was so strange. She remembered when she found out that her father was seeing Professor Platane. They had started off alone and now they were happy because of each other. What's more hadn't Shinji once said that Citron reminded him of his own brother. Then a small memory came back to her. She remembered one time she had wanted to spilt up her brother from someone but Shinji didn't seem the jealous type.

Shinji seemed to get on well with Reiji though, taking his teasing with ease and not letting it bother him. Maybe most of the rumours she'd heard about him were lies. Even as Shinji denied that his problem with Sumomo had anything to do with anything as mundane as romance, there wasn't as much bile as Shinji's arguments usually had.

When they were home, Eureka wondered with Reiji still trying to make out the conversation and Reiji took notice, "Unsure what to think, Eureka kun?"

"Yes. Shinji is safe, right?"

"It's taken you this long to ask that, huh? Don't worry, Shinji can be scary, but if anything goes wrong, your brother would take you out from under him in a second. What's more, I think that I should give you my number."

"You make it sound like he's not safe."

"Well, no one is truly safe, really. Especially if they have power. Shinji is difficult but if he doesn't try to improve he never will. I have faith that you have a strength too."

"Traveling with Shinji is so different from travelling with Satoshi. We were asked for help but these people we met on the way here. Shinji told them to help themselves and we walked on."

That seemed rather normal to Reiji. "It must have been clear from the start though, that my brother and Satoshi kun are completely different."

"Yes, it was. Shinji is different from everyone though. I just want to be sure that I made the right choice to go with Shinji."

"In that case," Reiji said with a smirk, "We need that battle."

"Sounds good to me. I hope that I can impress Shinji. He did say that we should battle." Eureka grinned at the smirk on Reiji's face. This felt like a normal atmosphere for the first time in a while. She had seen how much people learn about each other in battle and this sounded like a great idea. Finally the atmosphere was something that she was familiar with.

"Yes, lets do this when Shinji can watch."

Eureka nodded and helped Reiji to serve food to the various different pokemon. She wanted to feed Dodaitose in particular and take in Dodaitose's calming influence. Dodaitose would like to cuddle close to her as she was being fed. Eureka then went to Reiji to get some food for Manyula. Manyula was always a little difficult to feed because she could be aggressive and impatient. Manyula would often feel that it took too long for food to come and was likely to either steal from other pokemon or strike the bringer of food for not being fast enough. Elekible would strike Manyula down if he saw her doing that. Eureka secretly disliked feeding Elekible because she always found Elekible difficult. Elekible sometimes would electrocute her when she turned her back or if she let her guard down then would play innocent when called out. Eureka left this job to Reiji and watched what he did. Reiji had no difficulty though.

Shinij found Eureka just as she was walking towards a bunch of Reiji's baby pokemon with a bucket of food in her hands. He smiled and watched, considering her potential here. Even if she wouldn't help in whatever way Shirona had in mind, at least his pokemon would be better groomed.

Reiji saw Shinji watching Eureka and asked Shinji to help, promising the battle sooner if he did. Shinji rolled his eyes but agreed.

In a field, three people worked on moving pokemon as quickly as possible. Soon more people joined, half hoping that this would be a sign of what it usually meant when the field was emptied like this and soon enough, it was clear that a battle was beginning.

They had decided to forgo the use of a referee and just have a simple one on one battle. Considering how many pokemon Eureka had as well as her relationships with Shinji's pokemon, this wasn't exactly something that had been a hard choice. Eureka sent out Dedenne right away. Reiji however spent a while longer to choose his pokemon. He didn't want to destroy Eureka with a pokemon that was of type advantage or patronise her with a flying, dragon, dark, fighting or water type. After a while he chose an fairy type to make things as even as he could. There was a small gasp from the few watchers when Granbull came out of it's ball.

Eureka called out, "Begin with a Nuzzle."

Shinji frowned for this was exactly how she had begun when she had battled him last time. Not only that but this time Dedenne was a good distance too far from Granbull to get a Nuzzle in. Reiji didn't even have to tell Granbull to dodge.

Grunbull was weaving in and out of Dedenne's attempts at attacks with ease. Dedenne was trying it hardest to follow orders too. He even once succeeded in climbing up Granbull only to be shaken off in a second. It was clear that even though dedenne are naturally faster pokemon, Granbull was simply better trained.

Eureka called out, "Stop, use thunderbolt instead."

Dedenne's change of technique was immediate. The electricity was faster than running around and that was clear. Granbull was held in place for a few seconds whilst Dedenne let out his attack.

Reiji called out, "Use sludge bomb."

"It's not over yet, dodge it, Dedenne." Dedenne had though never officially receiving training been in a few battles with team rocket. Dedenne had learned how to dodge with ease.

"Ice fang."

"Nuzzle."

Dedenne took advantage of being in Granbull's mouth to let out it's shockingly cute attack. The ice still hurt though. If Dedenne had been better trained, maybe it could have escaped Granbull's clutches this way but alas it could not.

Granbull's mouth fell open. A half frozen Dedenne fell out. The mouth couldn't re-close. Paralysis was in full effect. Dedenne wiggled around, but was clearly very cold.

"Try a thunderbolt, Dedenne."

Dedenne didn't try. Dedenne fainted.

Eureka went out into the part of the field that had started to feel like a battling section and picked Dedenne up. She looked at Granbull who suddenly felt less cute. She had lost battles before but this hurt more. It had felt like she stood a chance.

Shinji walked up to her. "Do you know where you went wrong?"

Eureka said, "Everywhere." She started to cry and Shinji looked on very panicked.

"I was thinking more that erm, there... Once you know where you went wrong, you can work on making things right."

Eureka bit her lip. What Shinji said made sense but she didn't like that Dedenne was hurt and this wasn't helping.

"We'll take Dedenne to Joi san and talk on the way, okay?"

"I don't want to talk." Shinji looked at Reiji and he nodded. Shinji was now sure that it was best to let Eureka remain quiet. They walked away together and let Reiji clear up the field from the battle in peace.

When Dedenne was with Joi, Eureka sat down and let Shinji sit next to her. After a short quiet, she said, "The battle was wrong from start to finish."

"I think that Aniki may have over judged your skill level. The bigger mistake was on his part."

"You think so?"

"I thought that using Nuzzle the second time round was a good move. You clearly learned from your first mistake already."

"First mistake?"

"When you asked for Nuzzle without considering if Dedenne had the ability to pull off the move from where he was. Taht said, you took the opportunity when it came instead of trying to waste energy creating one. You clearly learn fast."

"Thanks."

"You'll get there. Whilst Dedenne recovers, I'm going to loan you a pokemon so that you can learn how to train."

"Cool, can I train with Dodaitose. She's so sweet."

Shinji nodded, trusting Eureka to handle his starter well and his starter to be willing to listen.

With Eureka beginning to feel better, they waited patiently and quietly for Dedenne to recover from the battle. The pokemon centre was quiet with only a few other trainers in at the time. A Lucky leaned on the counter, clearly a little bored and after a while, Eureka got up and went to have a sort of chat.

They were soon interrupted, when someone went up to Eureka and said, "Excuse me."

Shinji was instantly on alert but kept his distance and watched to see what would happen. This was not obvious from watching however someone like Reiji would have picked up on the tiny details and figured it out.

Eureka turned round to the new person and said, "Hello, would you like to entertain Lucky here too?"

"No, I was wondering if you were the little girl that was on tv a few weeks ago. When those evil people were attacking Kalos?"

"You mean Team Flare?" Eureka couldn't think of anyone else that fitting that description.

"Yes, Team Flare. Were you the one with the Dedenne?"

"Of course. Dedenne was wonderful, wasn't he?"

"Yes. He was." The person then left. Eureka shrugged and went back to entertaining Lucky. She had hoped to talk about how Dedenne had defended her. It wasn't anything impressive in terms of battling but the shock that Dedenne was willing to fight for her at all was enough to protect her.

As the person passed Shinji, he could hear the words "She's less cute in real life. Who would have thought?" Shinji reached for a monster ball but soon the person had left and would likely never be seen again. Therefore, Shinji decided he didn't matter.

Soon, Dedenne was recovered and the two children walked home together. As Eureka walked, she thought of how they had met that strange person Alan and how he had told them about how something odd was going on. They weren't certain what to make of it, but they knew that they had to get strong and quick. Eureka had trained a little with Citron and Serena whilst Satoshi had seen the league at the perfect opportunity to train.

They had discovered that Alan was working for someone who he thought he could trust. Eureka wasn't sure if she had trusted him from the start but that could just be her memory playing with her and telling her what she wanted to think. The person was very nasty and had tried to kill everyone and she wasn't too sure why. Still, they had stopped him and it had been wonderful.

Then Shinji had appeared, not long after. He had heard of the attacks and decided that there would likely be strong trainers around. He was surprised to see Satoshi, but not so much in that he didn't find Satoshi's appearance to be Satoshi like.

She wondered what Shinji meant by Satoshi like though it hadn't occurred to her as odd at the time.

Shinji was weird was the conclusion that she came at this time.

When they reached Reiji's place, everything was much neater. They could see Granbull playing peacefully with a young Nyarth. He didn't look anywhere near as nasty as he had on the battle field and in truth he wasn't. The Nyarth looked very fine as well. Eureka went to give the Nyarth a little cuddle and soon was persuaded into playing with the two pokemon. She called Reiji and Shinji over and to Shinji's surprise he found himself playing with the pokemon too. He saw Elekible from a distance looking angry but ignored that. Ringuma walked over and joined in.

When they entered the house, both Shinji and Eureka were covered in a fine layer of dust. No one minded and Shinji settled down with a book, whilst Eureka went to help Reiji in the kitchen.

The rest of the week whilst waiting for Shirona to return continued on much like this. Eureka never defeated Shinji or Reiji in battle but she learned a lot about battling. She played with all of Reiji and Shinji's pokemon making herself popular amongst most of them. She never was able to get Shinji to join in playing again and instead he passed books onto her.

It was a shock when Shirona did appear. She arrived late in the day and found Shinji and Eureka deep in a discussion on training. She had in the hands a large pile of paperwork and she was clearly out of breath. Shinji and Eureka went to help her inside then they went to sit at the table.

Shirona took a few seconds to get her breathing back to normal then combed her hair back behind her head and said, "This is going to be a lot of paper work but I wanted to get you the best deal."

"Excellent. So we shouldn't get into trouble for battling in cases that aren't self defence."

Shirona smiled and looked at Eureka then at Shinji, "Yes, and more. Think of Eureka as an ordinary trainer, only seven years old."

The shock was swift as all went quiet. Eureka had hoped that she'd be battling with Shinji and maybe a few other trainers all over the place. They had planned that they'd choose a region with cute pokemon and to wander around from there. Now they could challenge gyms. Now they could battle pretty much anyone they wanted to. She had been so looking forward to turning ten and now she wouldn't need to.

After what seemed like a long time, Shinji said, "But I was told that a person under ten can only battle in self defence, though people tend to turn a blind eye if it's own your own property."

Shirona mused to herself, that that was true. She had never heard of anyone being done when it was on someone's own property and she had no idea why. It certainly gave more power to richer families.

Eureka spoke up, "I'll be able to enter gym battles? Tag battles? Those weird Don Thingy battles they have in Isshu?"

Shirona replied, "If you get that far, it would be possible for you to enter the league."

Shinji blankly asked, "How?" He found himself feeling nothing and finding that odd. He mistook his shock for logic and proceeded to ask the question that Eureka was too awestruck to ask.

Shirona took a deep breath and smiled at the reactions around her. "I found a way. Eureka chan just needs to sign a few forms. Hence the paper work."

Eureka squealed, "Where?"

Shirona flipped a few pages over and pointed in a few places as she spoke, "Eureka chan will be considered like an adult as a trainer however she will still be considered a child in terms of things like marriage, taxes, and careers that have nothing to do with pokemon. There will be one difference. She can only carry three pokemon at any one time, unless she's carrying them for self defence or for assistance a disability, not that the second one is relevant right now."

Eureka whined, "Only three cuties, not fair."

Shinji stated, "Please don't make yourself sound like a brat, Eureka." She stuck her toungue out at him and turned back to Shirona with a huge grin on her face.

Shirona said, "I did try to change that. Still, it'a pretty good system I've worked out."

Shinji asked, "How is this possible though?"

Shirona replied, "Oh, I just shifted a few ideas around. Jumped into some loopholes and worked things out from there. Just show people this card and they'll understand" whilst she shifted a few more pieces of paper around for Eureka to sign, then she pulled out a card and showed it to Shinji.

Shinji looked that the card flipping it over again and again in his hand. It looked familiar but it took him a second to place it. "This is like those ones they had during the last war. I vagely remember it from history class."

"Yes."

The card was plastic and brown. It had a picture of Eureka that Shinji had never seen before. Shinji guessed that Shirona must have got in touch with Limone for that. Therefore, Reiji must have passed on the number at some point. It had the flag of Sinnoh on it too with the starter pokemon looking particularly rough and tough. Listed were Eureka's name, gender, age, number of pokemon she owned and a number that looked a lot like a trainer number but was a little different from the usual ones in how the numbers and letters were arranged. There was also a strip. Shinji imagined that it would be like with his own trainer card that every time it was updated it would automatically change the trainer details to fit.

Shirona asked, "Are there any problems?"

"I still don't understand how this is possible. What power do you have when it comes to the law?"

With a laugh, Shirona replied, "Oh, only as much as any other celebrity I suppose, still I can be very persuasive. Now Eureka chan, is there anything that worries you?" Her eyes focused on Eureka, taking in Eureka's joy, her passion and her innocence.

"Of course not" Eureka called out. She looked at Shirona, seeing a kind giver of kindness beyond description. She had met a champion before but had never imagined that a meeting with a champion could lead to something this wonderful.

With this, Shirona and Eureka finished off the paperwork together. It felt so excitingly fast, as each signature was added. Shinji smiled noting how easy to forge Eureka's signature was, and yet it was making such a difference to her life. Of course he never would take advantage of this, but that her signature was giving her so much responsibility was something strange. It evoked a happiness in Shinji that made him want to empower her and he didn't even ask himself how she would do that.

As soon as the final line was marked, Shirona left as quickly as she came, paperwork in hand.

Unthinking, Shinji turned to Eureka and said, "This changes everything." He let his own statement sink in to his own mind. When he picked Eureka he had never imagined that Shirona would show this much faith in him. He had thought that he'd be laughed at and have to send Eureka home in disgrace. He had been dreading the thought of having to find a new apprentice. He had half been tempted to give up on his ideals and go for someone with little potential a few times, but now it had been confirmed. Eureka was perfect.

Eureka replied, "We can still go to Aloha, right?" She had set her heart on making friends with a Mimikyu after reading about them in one of Reiji's books and that had made Aloha a strong choice right from the start. She had been tempted by other region's cuties but Reiji hadn't had a Mimikyu for her to befriend.

"That region doesn't even have gyms. You still should be able to choose though, just out of the regions with gyms."

Eureka said, "Maybe we should go for Sinnoh, since we're already here." If she was disappointed, it didn't show. In fact, her excitement was clear from her voice. The ideas had sunk in and now she just wanted the future to come right away. She wanted to begin. She wanted to catch a pokemon and make friends with it. She wanted to battle. She wanted so many things that she didn't know where to begin.

"There are some pretty cute pokemon in Sinnoh and I'll tell you if I see a Mimikyu." Upon adding in the second bit, Shinji hoped that the Mimikyu's trainer would be friendly. Still, seeing one could well be good enough.

Eureka's head leant back and she called out so that all would hear, "I'M GOING TO BE A TRAINER."

Shinji smiled and said, "Why don't you go and tell your family?" He then watched her run off to do just that. He himself decided to follow his own advice and tell Reiji, though he had a feeling that Reiji was already aware of this. Eureka's voice had been after all loud.

Reiji was out with a young first time mother and her eggs. Shinji knew better than to step too close or say anything. He waited until everyone was content and then approached. Reiji seemed so calm that Shinji didn't waste any time. He got straight to the point. "Eureka chan is allowed to do so much thanks to Shirona. She's going to challenge gyms. She could even challenge the league."

Reiji's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"Eureka chan is a trainer. In the eyes of the law, she's a trainer. I have a real appearance. I'm going to be an Elite Four member. Aniki, isn't this the best news ever?"

Reiji nodded though inside he wasn't certain what to think. He carefully took some steps towards Shinji then decided that he needed to sit down. He walked inside quite quietly. He saw Eureka tell a very confused looking Citron and that someone he'd never seen before was behind him. The stranger looked confused too.

Reiji sat down with a thump and adjusted to the thoughts as Shinji showed him Eureka's card. It was true. All of what Shinji had said was now beyond a doubt true. It wasn't even possible that Shinji had somehow become someone amazing at lying and gone out to annoy him. This was happening.

"Aniki?"

Reiji shook his head and forced himself to think straight. He then said, "I think that this is probably great news, Shinji. However, I want you to promise me that you'll keep in mind that Eureka kun is a little kid. Don't push her to win the league. Understand when she crumples under pressure and start again if needs be."

"You don't have to worry about anything, Aniki."

Reiji started to cry causing Shinji to look a little worried. Even as he wiped his eyes, Reiji kept himself together. "I'll do that never mind what you say because I can't help it."

Eureka turned to Reiji and said, "Because Shinji is your little brother."

Reiji started to cry more loudly. He nodded so everyone assumed that Eureka was right. He then left the room. Shinji shortly followed.

Eureka turned back to the screen. "I'm going to be great. Just wait for me to bring back the league trophy. I'll be the youngest ever winner won't I?"

Citron replied, "I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself, Eureka."

Eureka grinned. "What if I am? It doesn't change that this is amazing."

Citron laughed. He felt his heart swell with happiness. Eureka was already doing so well. He had half expected that the two would give up after a week, but no, this proved that everything would go swimmingly.

When they had all calmed down, Reiji took Eureka outside and said, "With the fact that you're going to be catching your own pokemon, I want you to know how to groom any sort of pokemon so I'm going to set you some harder tasks than I have before."

"Okay." Eureka squealed with delight until Reiji took her towards Elekible. She felt a pang of fear but scowled determined to prove herself. She wasn't going to let Shinji send her home.

Reiji passed her a pair of rubber gloves and said, "Elekible doesn't have static anymore but he has a habit of shocking those that groom him anyway. Please treat any attempts as though it was static."

Eureka got close to Elekible who was wearing a nasty grin and put on the gloves. She said, "Please be nice." She then picked up one of the grooming brushes and started to comb Elekible's fur. It was fine and soft, clearly showing signs of being well loved. She could see little sparks come off Elekible and had to be ever so careful with each movement she made. Soon she had done the lower half of Elekible's body and was presented with a step ladder to do the upper half.

When Eureka had finished she was quite shaken. She turned to Reiji to see if he approved and was surprised to see that a few other breeders were watching her progress.

"Very well, Eureka. There's still a lot you have to learn, but so far this is wonderful."

Elekible shook Eureka and she fell off the step ladder. Reiji presented her with his hand and helped her up. She turned to Elekible with annoyance but found herself unable to reprimand him. He was just so big and scary and right now, she couldn't convince herself that it would be worth it. She instead walked with Reiji and accepted his warm smile and soft eyes.

Reiji then said, "It isn't usually needed for bird like pokemon to be groomed but there are odd instances where it helps. They like to groom themselves and can be very picky." He then sent out his Mukuhawk and said, "Mukuhawk here though is used to helping train up those looking to learn grooming. I'm sure that you can handle this. Begin by petting Mukuhawk and letting her get used to you."

Eureka did just this, liking the feel of every feather. Mukuhawk cooed contently liking that Eureka had more experience that most people that learnt this through her. She watched Reiji bring out the half bucket and fill it with water. Reiji then proceeded to add in a purple liquid and she cooed louder in excitement. Reiji explained, "This is gumic acid stops the water from removing the feathers natural oils. That's only likely to happen if the pokemon is either sick of coming down with an illness but none the less is a good thing to do."

Reiji then picked up Mukuhawk and placed her in the half barrel and let her flap around comfortably. He then picked out what looked to Eureka like an ordinary pair of sticks. "If you use a brush for this, you're likely to mess up the feathers and then the pokemon can't fly." He then passed the sticks to Eureka. "Use them similar to how you would a comb but be even more gentle, like you're brushing your teeth and make sure to use both sticks."

Eureka reached over and stroked the feathers along. She noticed that each brush stroke was only making the mildest of differences. Mukuhawk rested her eyes and seemed ready to wait for a long time. Eureka continued to groom Mukuhawk and looked at Reiji who was calmly nodding. She looked at Reiji hoping that he would give more information but he didn't.

Reiji then said, "Okay, now you have that basic idea down, Mukuhawk can let you handle more difficult areas like where the feathers cross over." He then showed her how to use the sticks almost like chop sticks and how to genitally twist the feathers back into shape, only for Mukuhawk to then lean down and twist them a little differently with her beak. "Midori is better at this than I am."

Eureka giggled accepting Reiji's failure here with ease. She then tried to copy Mukuhawk's movements but found that Mukuhawk once again corrected her work also.

"It's a good thing that Mukuhawk knows what she's doing," Eureka said with a smile.

"Yes but understand that this can be needed at times." Reiji then knelt down and said, "It's true though, pokemon do know themselves very well and you should always feel ready to trust them."

Eureka frowned wondering why Reiji was telling her that. Eureka asked, "Can you show me more grooming?" That would be way better, Eureka thought than morals that felt like they were out of nowhere.

"Sure. Let's see. Ah, I know. I'll show you how to make fire types comfortable. Grooming them is much like any other pokemon but there's things that you can do that make them more relaxed that aren't as needed with other pokemon." Reiji then stood up and said, "Let's find a nice big rock to begin."

Just as they were going to look for a suitable rock, Shinji came over and said, "You can learn about grooming any time. I've packed our bags. Let's go and catch some pokemon."

Booburn looked a little disappointed as Eureka abandoned the search and ran over to Shinji. Reiji turned to Booburn and said, "I'll still groom you even if Eureka isn't here." Booburn grinned.

Seeing that Eureka felt sure that she was doing the right thing and ran off to catch pokemon with Shinji, Reiji felt content that both of them were going to have a wonderful journey. He contently got on with his job, not worrying about his family at all.


End file.
